Improvement in carbonizing wood



' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. M. A. LEBURN VIRLOY.l

CARBONIZING Woon. No. 38,071. Patented Mar. 3'1. 1863.

Lgf

d r f \&1 ya gw n# fr" l rui Nmuus rsrzns Co.. wAsHmcwN, a. c,

. 2 Sheet Sheet 2. M. A. LEBURN VIRLOY.

CARBONIZING WOOD.

No. 38,071. Patented Mar. 31, 1863.

I l l A IUNITED STATES PATENT4 OFFICE.

A. LEBRUN v1R`LoY,oF rAn1s,v-.rnanon.

Specification forming part of Letters Pa stances ,to take fire'when arriving at a certain stage of dryness and decomposition.' Moreover, the processes new adopted for carbonizing wood and peat have not produced more than fifty-five per cent. of fuel, either because the ,Waste heat; and the combustionv of the volatile products have not been sufficientlyv utilized, or because from the variability of the temperature during carbonization, part of the fuel becomes combined with volatile products, or a portion of the fuel is` uselessly consumed during'the'operation'by the iniiuence of4 the atmosphere and other causes. By my invention If am enabled in a` great measure to remedy these'defects, andinsteafd of obtainingo'nly iifty-five per cent. of fuel I'get about eighty per cent., and at the Sametime I collect at a small expense the volatile products. The apparatuses for carrying my invention into effect may be of any convenient form ordimensions, and may be placed either hori` zontally, vertically, or inclined, and consist of chambers or furnaces made in masonry, iron, or other metal, or even clay or sand supported and heldtogether by metal plates. In theseapparatuses the .temperature is maintainedf'higher at one end than at4 the other; the operation is continuous, and the materials are caused to advance successively from that point where the temperature is lowest to where it i's highest.

The main features of my invention consist,

Erst,- in introducing wood, peat, and other material at one' side arend of a furnace, and withdrawing it from the other side 'or end in a state suitable for its bein g employed as fuel second, inl hermetically closing thedoors or other openings to the furnace ations,-ivhereby liability during the oper-` t'ent No. 33,071, dated March 31, 1863.

third, in regulating, by means of taps, valves, and'registers, the size ofthe holes in the covers and in the apparatuses themselves according to circumstances, to increase ordiminish, for example, the activity of the fuel and the operof air, gas, and other volatile products; fourth, in collecting and removing therefrom a portion of the volatile products afterthe whole or part of their ized; fifth, in utilizing, asfar as may be the same materials and debris of .sli ght value, as well as the combustible gases producedby the operation itself-in short, making use of the waste heat, which, in the ordinary processes of drying and carbonizing, is carried away by 4the vapors and 'gas escaping at a high temperature; sixth, submittinglthe Wood, peat, or other material to be treated first toa low temperature and gradnallyincreas ng it to a high temperature.- The operation may,if desired, be facilitated by fans, currents of air, gas, or otherwise. When the furnaces are horizontal or some what inclined, the material to be treated is carried on wagons or trucks. As one wagon leaves at one end ofthe furnace it is replaced by another at the other end. In these furn aces the inlet and outlet apertures are placed above the ends and not at the ends, by which means hydraulic joints may 'be used. When the, furnaces are vertical or partially inclined, thefuel is generally placed in boxes, in cases, or on woodenframes, almost wholly occupying the internal' space. They advance by their own weight toward the lower part, where the quantity of the dried fuel 4has been removed at thebottom it is replaced by fresh atthe top. In all cases the furnaces must behermetically closed at each end, and,by preference, with hydraulic joints, which mustbe opened riipidl y with care, and,'if possible, only one 'end should be opened at a time to prevent the admission of air in too large a` quantity.

Figures l and 2 of the accompanying draw' ings are view-s in vertical section, and Fig.

l3 is a plan of a vertical furnace constructed according to my invention. The space be to take tire is avoided; teria-l.

tween the internal and external metal 'lining A., of which the furnace is composed, is filled with earthfsand, or other non-conducting ma- The furnace is surrounded with a ation, or for regulating the admission and exit caloric has been util-Y temperature 1s kept high. Whena certain ing previously removed. C, is heated by the products of combustion 2 aovl frame, B, which is easy to setup and remove, and on which the whole structure is supported -as well as the stoves C C for utilizing the 'waste heat foi-,thc preparation of the material to be operated on. The' top;of` the frame B, before mentioned, carries beams D D, on which rails are laid, and along which a truck, E, is free to rui for facilitating the operations to be hereinafter explained. The material to be `carbonized is laid on metal frames F, and

furnace is ready to be charged, one ofthel drames, F, with the material. is caught by the supports b, and placed in the stoves. For

,A this purpose it is raised and taken' by means of the truck ll above the furnace, which has been previously opened. It is then .lowered by introducing the suspension-rod Gthrough a rectangular hole formed for that purpose, the metal. or wood bars between the materials be- One.of the stoves,

proceeding from two external furnaces,H H', the other, C', by the waste heat from the volatile products which issue from the furnace by a' pipe, ii, Fig. 1, and-traverse a case, I, filled with 'someealcareous material or with lime for the absorption ot' acetic acid. Tar becomes .deposited in front and bottom of the case,

from whence it is easily withdrawn.

In both stoves the arrangements are so provided that the steam gas, and smoke are compelled to traverse the material vbefore 'escaping by the apertures made in the doors whichl form the bottom, The case I is withdrawn from the stove U and is replaced by another, when the quantity of acetic acid absorbed forms 'about a tenth of the weight of the calcareous material. The acetate of lime, which forms in a coating on thevsurface of ,the fragments of calcareous material, is removed and the material isemployed for fresh operations. On

-the side of each of the furnaces and at top apertures are 'formed' in the carbonizationtube J, by which the combustible gases, which are generated inside, chiefly at the lower part of the apparatus where the temperatureis highest, are allowed to escape. These gases become ignited while passing over the incandescent. material, and their combustion is utilized to the advantage of the operation before vbecoming mixed with steam, the greater portion of which is generated in the upper part of the apparatus. The apertures may be closed from the exterior by plugs or valves as desired. The two tire-boxes KK are furnished centrally with-a register, by which communication between the rst and second stage of the flues may be cut ofi'. In this case the gases proceeding from the two external. fur' naces, H Hf, enter the interior of the furnace by a rectangular orifice, ,'formed in the lower vpart of the smoke-box, by preference below the second frame, F, so that they may expand 'I uniformly over the whole furnace, taking advantage of the space formed by the iramef lhis introduction 'is made as desired, wholly. or `partially, during the operation to increase or regulate it, and to stop it the orifice is closed and the register is opened. By this Vorifice or byany other convenient` aperture, Y'

air or gas, cold or hot, -and evenl steam, may be admitted. The top cover, L, is worked by means of a small crane, and the lowercover, M, is suspended by chain e e, carryingveights f f. The joints of the covers L and M are made tight by hydraulic fastenings g g. Under ordinary conditions the lower frame, F, which supports allthe others, rest-s on piles or projections h h, and the suspensiorrrod G,

which is only usedfor drawing out the fuel, is

inclosed in the furnace by a cap, z', Fig. 1, put on the 'aperture in the top cover, L, after an appliancewhich holds the rod G to the truck F has been removed. ,A Y

The operation is as follows Fig. 2 shows the lower cover, M, at the bottom of` the furnace, aswell as the last frame, F, in which thecarbonization of the fuel is effected. The other frames have been'lowered by thetruck and rod G, and the last frame res-ts on the spindles h h. The spindles have been withdrawn to admit of the descent of the last" frame, and have been replaced to support the yfirst. The carbonization of the fuel in the first frame is finished at the height of the furnaces and dues, or at that part where the temperature is highest. The other frames get Thespindles h hare withdrawn, and by means of a rod, G, and truck E all the frames are lowere'd and the spindles h h pushed back. The rod G has a quarter of a' turn given it,

- in'order to disengage itslower hook from the last frame, which, becoming free, is received by the damper which is pushed Valong the; tram way, the rod is again raised, the hook of which seizes the last frame, and the cover M is placed on to close the opening at the bottom of the furnace.

vTo recharge -the furnace, the lengthening piece of the rod G is detached, a fresh frame is taken from the ,stovesl C C', raised byv the' truck E, and lowered through the upper opening of the furnace, the door L of which must be previously opened for that purpose, and so on each frame successively until-the furnace is lilled up. The cover is thenput on, and carbonization proceeds as before. The operation usually last six hours, and the action of l the furnaces may be regulated hy varying the sizeof the apertures for the escape of the gas and other volatile products. The operation of horizontal or inclined furnaces is carried on in a similar manner.

Desiccation of combustible materials or their decomposition is carried on to all degrees desired in the same apparatuses and vby the same means, but they are subjected to the action of the heat'. Thedesiccating and carbonizing apparatuses may be placed close to blast Vor other furnaces and factories, so as to utilize their lost or waste heat as well as their combustible gases. The apparatuses may have an interrupted movement, particularly the horizontal furnaces. bustibles generally remain immovable in the furnace instead of being caused towadvance progressively toward the point where the highest temperature exists; but thenthe furnaces.

are made movable, which at first 4moderately heats one of the endsfor example, they are caused to move forward as the desiccation of thelcombustibles proceeds, and as they become transformed into fuel. Vllhe gas, steam, and smoke are elsewhere combined in such manner as to utilize as much as possible the lost heat and to collect the-volatile products. The chimneys and smoke-boxes are usually made movable.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, and Fig. 5 is a. Fig. 6 is a sec-' plan, of a horizontal furnace. c tion through the dotted linel1 2 3 4', and'Fig. 7 is a section taken at the line 5 6, both of Fig. 5^.

To 'simply the arrangements and to reduce expense as much as possible, the sides of the furnace may be made of turf, earth, or other material, held together laterally by metal, with wooden supports, and by planks and 'stakes driven in the ground. The apparatus maybe-insulated, first, from the action of the' soil on which the furnace rests by placing metal plates under the earth or other materialwhich supports the Wood;` second, from atmospheric influences, by putting plates of metal on the layer of turf, earth, or other material covering the wood, as shown at Fig. 6. The Wood is piled in the interior, by preference, lengthwise of the furnace, in masses B B B'", separated by spaces C' C C", so that the diffusion of the dames, steams, and hot gases may operate regularly among, the Wooden blocks.' The agents-,of combustion are introduced through apertures D D" D, formed in the sides, as shown, which traverse the lateral furnaces H il', and pass through the combustibles in order to carbonize them, and they pass into the first space, traverse the iirst mass,-then the second, and enter Ya vacant space, from whence they are taken outside either by one or two chimneys set vertically above the space, or by one or two lateral chimneys, L LV', with srnbke-boxes and apparatuscs for' collecting dry the acetic acids, the ta-r,and volatile products. The furnaces H H and lateral chimneys LL are mounted on car In this case the aomriages M M', which run on rails N N', formed on the right and leftof the furnace. The furntcfs H El have, moreover, a motion in a. direction perpendicular with the axis of the furnace, a motion Whichiaflows the orifices for,

the escape of flames andgas to be introduced into the sideorifices, D D" D", of the furnaces intended to receive them. The operation commences at the first vacant space C r n the side where the .Wood B is lowest.. The movable furnaces HAH' are placed there to tl e right and left, the heat in which is caused to increase progressively. The movable chimneys L L', ,whether vertical, lateral, or on carriages,

are placed in the vertical orifices I". I" formed atthe top of the second space, C".`V` .They remain there until the' temperature of the gas' escaping from the furnacedoes not, for example, exceed 1009 Fahrenheit. Then they are placed on the vertical-orifices I I" of the third space, 0'", in such manner that the furnaces are separated from it by blocks of All the lateral introduction orifices D D" D' -which are not in communication withl the' furnaces E H' are stoppedas well as all the vertical escape-orifices which are in communica-j tion with chimneys. 'When the carbonizatidn of the first mass B' is terminated, the movablev furnaces H H are placed lin the second space` C" and the chimneys L' L" on the fourth space,- and so on up to theend. The draft is regulatedby registers or other appliances. Care must be tak en to choke the fuel as it is made and for thatpurpose it is advantageous to lili with earth the space by which the furnace is emptied. The furnaces and chimneys may be at any convenient distances apart, according to circumstances. The furnace may also be of any desired. form or shape withouual tering the main features before described, which consists in making the 'urnaces and chimneys movable in proportion the advance of the operation. vThe de siccation of wood for its transformation `into a 'state of fuel, as well as the desiccation and carbonizationvof peat, may be effected in asimilar manner by forming interstices in the blocks for the passa gc of dame, steaml and hot gases. One of the great advantages' of these processesris the employment of wood in greatlengths, directly it has been felled, without the loss and expense occasioned by cutting it up. ln case of need, the external furnaces may be fed by fans or other means for producing a current of forced gas. The admissin of airis regulated by a register, as in the furnaces H H before described, and it is caused to circhlate in a double envelope for heating and utilizing the waste heat.

The processes before described may be applied to materials other than those mentioned.

Having now described the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is to he performed, I declare that I claim- 1. So constructing and operating a furnace for drying or carbonizing bood, lpeat, and other fuel, as that the said fuel is introduced i drawn suitably dried o r `cutrlooniue'd from the other' side, substantially as shown and decullyclosed during the operation, in the ma'nerated as. described, the use of taps, valves, `and registersin the oricesand cover-'sato ingas, and other volatile products, substantially as shown and described. l 4. The manner. herein described of collect l 'ing and removing from a. furnace for carbon 1 2. In combinati n with a. furnace constructcd'end operated as shown und described, the employment ofdoors and other openings, when so arranged 'as to allow of -their bein g hermet# ner and for the purposes set forth. 3. In`v furnaces for drying or 'earbonizn-g wood, peat, or other fuel, constructed and op creasefor diminish, according to circumstances, the activity of the fuel and the operation, and for regulating the admission and exit of air,

izing or drying wood, peut, &c., a portion of the volatile products after the whole or part of their caloric has beenY utilized, substantially vas and for the purposes set forth. 1 v5. The mannerherein described of-,ntilizing 

